By Juan Carlos Ramirez ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Whether you are a Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump supporter, any issues concerning the electoral college should concern us as the people.
While there are potential problems with the system, it still allows for better representation of minority groups.
The electoral college is systematic voting process where we elect a group of people who represent our vote in the presidential election in November.
“The electoral college is a group of electors that are decided by the state,” said History teacher Mrs. Kristen Venberg. “When people go and vote in the election in November, they are actually not voting for a presidential candidate but for an elector.”
The electoral college was first implemented by our founding fathers as a way to ensure that the election of the president would be decided by the educated.
“It started with the framers of the Constitution who did not believe that the general public would be knowledgeable enough to vote for a presidential candidate,” Mrs. Venberg said. “It also helps those smaller states to have more representation in the process.”
It might have been a wise decision at that time, but the people of today’s era are much more informed.
Another dilemma has risen when the electors do not represent the people’s will in each state.
According to the National Archives and Records Administration, there is no written federal law that requires the electors to vote in accordance to the popular vote results in their state.
This type of dilemma has happened on three occasion, and the most recent situation was the presidential race between “Al” Gore Jr. and George Walker Bush.
Gore won the popular vote, but Bush won the electoral vote.
I still believe it is necessary to keep this electoral system because it’s been a system which has worked for the past 200 years.
“I think it increases the presidential candidate’s focus on smaller states, bigger states and minority groups,” said Michael Ruta ’17. “Minority groups have become a larger part of urban populations. As a result, certain cities that provide support for either candidate might have a greater influence in the election.”
In today’s presidential race, I believe that most people are more focused on their feelings rather than factual evidence.
As such, there could be a possibility of some restrictions being implemented in the near future.
Rightly so.
If the electoral college were ever to pick up a trend of ignoring the people’s will, I do believe there should be an implementation of restrictions on the electors.
